| Secret Diary of a Call Girl | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | |
| Created by | Lucy Prebble |
| Based on | The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl byBelle de Jour |
| Directed by |
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| Starring | |
| Opening theme | "You Know I'm No Good" (instrumental) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 32(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Cinematography | Gavin Struthers (series 2) |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | |
| Release | 27 September 2007 (2007-09-27) – 22 March 2011 (2011-03-22) |
Secret Diary of a Call Girl is a Britishdrama television series that aired from 27 September 2007 to 22 March 2011 onITV2, based on the blog and books by the pseudonymousBelle de Jour. It starsBillie Piper asBelle, a high-endcall girl in London.
The series was written byLucy Prebble, who is also the author of the playsThe Sugar Syndrome andEnron. The series has been compared toSex and the City by many critics, mainly due to its humorous approach to sex.[1][2]
The series, set inLondon, revolves around the life ofHannah Baxter (Billie Piper), a young woman who lives a secret life as acall girl, under the pseudonym Belle. The series focuses on her professional and private lives and on complications that arise when these collide. She receives help and advice from her best friend Ben (Iddo Goldberg). In the second series premiere, a new call girl is introduced: Bambi (Ashley Madekwe). Hannah becomes close friends with Bambi and often advises her.
Hannah, as the main character, also narrates the series, sometimes throughvoiceovers but more frequently bybreaking the fourth wall. During the first series, the episodes are held together by a lightstory arc. Series 2 and 3 rely heavily on story arcs, mainly in the form of Hannah's romances, with Alex and Duncan respectively.
| Series | Episodes | Originally released | Ave. viewers (millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | ||||
| 1 | 8 | 27 September 2007 (2007-09-27) | 15 November 2007 (2007-11-15) | 1.24 | |
| 2 | 8 | 11 September 2008 (2008-09-11) | 23 October 2008 (2008-10-23) | 0.98 | |
| 3 | 8 | 28 January 2010 (2010-01-28) | 11 March 2010 (2010-03-11) | 0.83 | |
| 4 | 8 | 1 February 2011 (2011-02-01) | 22 March 2011 (2011-03-22) | 0.65 | |
The rights to the blog were bought by Silverapples Media (Avril MacRory andPaul Duane), who co-produced the series withTiger Aspect Productions. The series was initially developed withChannel 4[3] and when Channel 4 passed on the project,ITV took over. The series aired in a late-night 10pm slot, as part ofITV2's "XXL Thursday" programming block.
The theme song is an excerpt of "You Know I'm No Good" byAmy Winehouse. The song runs whilst theintertitle plays, showingBelle applying make-up and getting dressed, interspersed with shots of urban London.
Both series 1 and 2 consisted of eight episodes: the series was commissioned for a third series, even before the second series was aired. Actress Billie Piper herself commented on the difficulties of Hannah's wardrobe as Belle since Piper was pregnant during the filming of series two. Piper described Hannah's usual attire worn, explaining, "I wear tight clothes in this show, so it's obvious [her pregnancy]."[4] The crew decided to shoot using ulterior angles, to disguise her baby bump, with Piper noting, "We were shooting around my torso, basically."[5] For the nude scenes,body doubles were employed.[6] In addition, Hannah's wardrobe changed frequently, including the use of accessories such asshawls being worn, or on occasion, an entirely loose-fitting outfit.
The filming of series 3 began at the start of 2009, once Piper had recovered after the birth of her son in October 2008.[7] Piper also stated she would be taking on the role of executive producer of the upcoming series as well.[8] Ahead of the series 3 premiere ITV2 aired a one-off interview between Piper andBrooke Magnanti, who had written under the Belle de Jour pseudonym, entitled,Billie and the Real Belle Bare All.
Piper stated that the fourth series was to be the final.[9] There were brief rumors during the filming of series 4 of a movie adaptation.[10]
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The series was first broadcast on 27 September 2007 onITV2 in the United Kingdom. It was watched by 1.9 million, a record (which has since been beaten byBionic Woman) for ITV2.[11]
In Canada, the first series began onShowcase on 22 November 2007. The second series debuted onThe Movie Network on 19 January 2009.
In the United States,Showtime aired the first series of eight half-hour episodes beginning in June 2008, with a commitment for an additional 12 episodes.[citation needed] Robert Greenblatt, Showtime's president of entertainment, initially considered buyingformat rights and recasting it with American actors, but he ultimately decided that the original was "fantastic"; Greenblatt also noted that "it's very hard to find American actresses who are comfortable doing nudity."[12] The second series aired on 18 January 2009. On 6 November 2009,Showtime announced that the show's third series would return on 25 January 2010 at 10:00pm. Showtime scheduled the fourth series to premiere 7 April 2011, at 10:30pm.
The first series was released on 7 January 2008 onRegion 2 DVD.[13] Series 2 was released in the United Kingdom on 2 March 2009 and like the first series classified 18. On the same day, a four disc box set edition consisting of both series 1 and 2 was released.[14] On both sets, much of the popular music was replaced due to high licensing costs.
The entire series is also available to download oniTunes and to stream onNetflix UK, Lovefilm UK andTubi.
In the United States theRegion 1 version of series 1 was released on 6 January 2009. Series 2 was released soon afterwards, in June. Again, much of the music was replaced due to high licensing costs.[15]
The television series is rated R18 in New Zealand as it contains sex scenes and offensive language.
The show [...] uses London in somewhat the same waySex and the City used New York – we see a lot of bright lights, fancy restaurants, and expensive apartments – though there is a sadder, more wistful quality to the photography here, as if Belle were living in a kind of London fog, which, of course, she is.
The series was mainly well received by critics, with Tim Goodman of TheSan Francisco Chronicle saying, "there's surprise at how much you've underestimated its quality."[17] It was graded A− byEntertainment Weekly, which said, "you will find a rather fascinating drama."Entertainment Weekly also commented on Billie Piper's portrayal of Belle, saying, "Piper is extraordinary, intermittently talking right to the camera in a straightforward, conspiratorial manner, the way a prostitute who's really good at her job would talk to a client."[18] It was less well received, however, byThe New York Times, which said, "Secret Diary has amusing touches, but not enough to sustain an entire series."[19]
Whilst reviewing Series 3 ofSecret Diary of a Call Girl, Gerard O'Donovan ofThe Telegraph opined that the show focuses too much on Piper's character, saying "All the characters, apart from Belle (Piper), are about as two-dimensional as cardboard cut-outs – and no more engaging."[20]
The series was also accused of glamorizing and being a misrepresentation of prostitution.[21]
Piper hit back at the claims saying, "We've only been exposed to the drug-fuelled, sex traffic side – but the fact is, there are middle-class, cultured, well-read women who take part in this job."[22][23]
The first series averaged 1,242,125 viewers in the UK. The following weekly viewership statistics are from theBroadcasters' Audience Research Board.[24]
| Series | Episodes | Originally released | Ave. viewers (millions) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | ||||
| 1 | 8 | 27 September 2007 (2007-09-27) | 15 November 2007 (2007-11-15) | 1.24 | |
| 2 | 8 | 11 September 2008 (2008-09-11) | 23 October 2008 (2008-10-23) | 0.98 | |
| 3 | 8 | 28 January 2010 (2010-01-28) | 11 March 2010 (2010-03-11) | 0.83 | |
| 4 | 8 | 1 February 2011 (2011-02-01) | 22 March 2011 (2011-03-22) | 0.65 | |
The series premiered in the United States onShowtime to the highest ratings the cable channel had seen in four years for a television premiere. The series debut reached almost one million viewers, its closest rival,Dexter, premiered to 604,000.[25] The showing held on to an impressive 70% of its lead-in audience that tuned in for the fourth-series premiere ofWeeds.
